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Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1980-04-03

Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1980-04-03, page 01

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LIBRARY,. OHIO ..HISTORICAL- SOC4£*fv
1982'VELHa AVE* _
COLS., 0. 43211
EXCH
VOL. 58 NO. 14
APRIL3.1980-NISAN17
Campaign 1980: Some Jewish Guidelines
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By Rabbi William Berkowitz
(A Seven Arts Feature)
In the next few.weeks,
candidates from all parties
will be reaching out and
Rabbi Alpert *
Named Directs
Of OSU Hillel
Rabbi Howard L. Alpfert
has been appointed Director
of the B'nai B'rith ^Hillel
'Foundation at Ohio State
University beginning Aug. 1,
1980.
B. Lee Skilken, Chairperson of the Hillel Search Committee, said the selection of
Rabbi Alpert "is the culmination of a year-long, nationwide search. Hecomes to Columbus, from Champaign,
111., where he is completing
three highly successful
years as Director of the University of Illinois Hillel
Foundation."
Rabbi Alpert, 29, received
his B.A!, degree from Queens
College,-, where he later
served as Assistant Director
of the Hillel Foundation and
Coordinator of the Free Jew-^
igh'tfniverei&?A "" ""*"
He received his Rabbinical
degree from the Rabbi Isaac
Elchanan Theological Seminary and an M.A. degree in
Talmudic Literature from
the Bernard Revel Graduate
Center of Yeshiva University.
Hillel Board President
Benson Wolman-noted that
Rabbi Alpert has demonstrated "a unique ability to
attract and inspire a broad
range of .Jewish students in
his previous positions. His
Orthodox background is
complemented by a marvelous openness and appreciation for the diversity of
Jewish backgrounds, found
on college campuses—all 6f
which is' reflected in his
significant experience
with, deep commitment to,
and genuine love of working
with students of all persuasions."
In Illinois, in addition to
his Hillel work, Alpert has
served as Chaplain at a veteran's hospital and he has
been active in Jewish federation work, serving as a member of the Board of Federations of Jewish Charities of
Champaign and Scholar-in-"
Residence of the Central Illinois Jewish Federation.
His standing amongst his
Hillel colleagues is reflected
by his recent election to the
executive committee of the
International Association of
Hillel Directors. „
Rabbi Alpert, his wife
Sarah, and their two children, Avi and Shira, will
piove to Columbus in midsummer. ^
seeking the votes of the Jewish community. Each will
pledge unending devotion
and loyalty to Israel, each
will try and outdo the next.
Persuasive ads on radio,
television and in papers will
appear. Endorsements will
ring out. Jews will have to
choose. And yet: How should
one choose? Are there guidelines to follow? Are there signals to look for?
Let each and every Jew
vote and follow his or her
conscience and instinct as to
what will be the best path for
the United States to follow
domestically so as to insure
freedom, justice, law and
stability here at home. And
let each and every Jew vote
and follow his or her conscience and instinct as to
what will be the best path for
the United States to follow
internationally so as to
secure - American and
Western strength, position,
prestige and principle
throughout the world.
But what of the Middle
East and Jewish interest in
that region? How does one
pierce all the official declarations and position papers?
Allow me to offer several
questions that, should be
asked when looking at a
candidate's positions.
Kennedy's Upset Victory Aided By Jewish Voters
NEW YORK (JTA)—Jewish voters played'a major role in
Sen. Edward Kennedy's stunning upset victory over President Carter in the New York Democratic Presidential
primary last week. The Massachusetts Senator, however,.
credited his capture of 59' percent of the New^York vote to
Carter's 4J percent, a$ well as his equally surprising victory
in Connecticut yesterday,' to voter. unhappineSs with jnfla-
The voter turnout in the Democratic primary among Jews,
as among all other New Yorkers, was light. But Jews, who
traditionally comprise one-third to 40 percent of primary
voters here, went 79 percent for Kennedy statewide and 82
percent in^New York City. *
Robert Strauss, Carter's campaign manager, in conceding
defeat, blamed it on the President's announced budget cuts
and "a bad UN resolution which hurt us here," Strauss'was
referring to the U.S. vote March 1 for the United Nations
Security Council resolution condemning Israel's settlement
policies which Carter repudiated two days later.
I Impact Of 'Holocaust' Series Not Lasting
BONN (JTA)—The impact of the American television
series "Holocaust" on West German viewers was powerful
. but not lasting, according to the results of public opinion polls
taken shortly before the January, 1979 screening, directly
afterwards and one year later.
In November, 1978, two months before the NBC television
production was broadcast in West Germany, 53 percent of the
population favored ending the prosecution of Nazi war criminals and 31 percent wanted it to continue. In February, 1979,
one month after the screening, which had been watched by 63
percent of the national television audience, the polls indicated that 51 percent of the viewers wanted prosecutions continued against 45 percent who wanted them ended.
But one year later, the numbers opposed to prosecution
rose to 57 percent while those in favor fell to 34 percent. The
polls did not indicate any reasons for the quick evaporation of
support for Nazi war crimes trials.
Israeli To Help^Build Peace Monument
TEL AVIV (JTA)—Prof. Alfred Mansfeld of Technion's
Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning has been^on^
missioned by Egypt to submit a design for the inter-faith
monument to peace Egyptian President Anwar Sadat wishes
to build at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Mansfeld is one of three internationally known architects selected for the project. He
• designed the synagogue that will occupy a third of the area
set aside for the sanctuary, along with a mosque designed by
Egyptian architect A. El Rjmaly and a church designed by
French architect Pierre Vago.
' The three architects presented their coordinated plans to
Sadat late last year and received.his approval. The entire
project is expected to be completed within five years and cost
an estimated $30-540 million. The money will be provided by
the* Egyptfen government and other sources arouhd the
world. -^
One—Does the candidate
have a long-time record of
support for the State of Is?
rael? That means if the
candidate served in the
House or the Senate, what
was his or her record like?
Did they vote on the crucial
issues in such a way as to
strengthen the State of Israel?
Two—Was the candidate
accessible during his years
of service to the Jewish community? Was there an open-
door policy that existed in
previous years? And did the
Jewish community have
access to the person at crucial occasions, not just
during election times or for
speaking engagements?
Three^Does the . ■ candi-.
date view Israel as a 'moral
issue' alone or does he also
view Israel in strategic
terms? For too long now,
politicians of various parties
have spoken about the moral
value of Israel alone. Yet in
the world in which we live
morality without power becomes sentimentality at best
and dangerous at worst.-A
Candidate, must view* the
State of Israel as being in the
3trateJii<r'"inferest'~"oF"' the
United States—as a dependable, democratic ally whose
position and power will be of
help to this country and her
interests.
Four—Does the candidate
constantly urge United
States support for the 'survival of Israel' or the 'security of Israel'? This former"
phrase has been for quite
some time a position that
disturbs supporters and
friends of Israel. Why speak
of survival? Israel is here to
stay and is a permanent fact
in the Middle East, and there
should not even be an argument as to that fact of survival. Hence, one must be
very careful concerning the
choice of rhetoric; lest it
soon set an atmosphere in
which self-fulfilling prophecies take over. One
should only speak of the
security of the State of Israel; on this point alone
should one seek to campaign.
Five—What is the candidate's geo-political point of
view? For example, is the
candidate one who sees the
world as it is—or as he would
_ like it to be? Is the candidate
supportive of small nations
.■ and their quest for freedom
,- and security? Determine
that the candidate supports
policies which strengthen
long-time allies rather than
forsaking 1 them in order to
woo newfound friends. And
uncover the candidate's
position on support for other
countries'. For too long, we
t have seen the sad spectacle
' of politicians who, caught up
in the mystique of the Third
World and radical social
movements, end up betraying and weakening Israel by
espousing, knowingly or
unknowingly, the cause of
those who seek her destruction.
Six—does the candidate
have an even basic knowledge of- Jewish and Middle
East history? One of the
most frightening situations
is to have public officials
whose knowledge of the past
is sparse or incorrect."God
cannot alter the past, but historians can," said Samuel
Butler. He was right, except
that he forgot to include
many politicans whose
ignorance of the past
assumes a dimension of danger in the present. A public
official who, for example, is
unaware that in 1922, a territory named ' TransJordan
was carved out of an area
called Palestine, is a public *
official unable to grasp the
complexities, of the Middle
'East situation. Without the
knowledge, he would not
know that there -already
exists a Palestinian state in
the Middle" East—that its
~nanie*is 'Jordanvrrantf* that-
current discussion is for the
establishment of a second
Palestinian state, not a first
one.
Seven—Who serves on the
candidate's staff? This is one
of the most crucial questions
a voter should ask. For it is
yi rtiij i v
the staff of a candidate that
is the gate that provides
accessibility, and it is the
staff who will influence the
candidate in his positions
and voting. Unless a candidate has a particular expertise on the Middle East, he
will be relying on his staff.
And that anonymous staff
will thus wield-tremendous
power. Findout who they are '
and what they think.
Eight—Is the candidate an
incumbent or an insurgent?
There is much to be said for
electing either kind of candi'
date. An incumbent is already familiar ' with the
levers of power and can
move in a variety of-ways.
On the other hand, an incumbent, perhaps in a final term,
can choose to follow paths
unhampered by fears of ultimate political judgment. Not
so, with an insurgent who
knows that he will be
returning to the electorate in
four or six years ,for reelection. And yet, an* insurgent is an open risk. Just
how will he behave once in
office? Arguments can be
made on both sides, but
other'criteria must ulti-
'ihattilyprevail.""; """ ._.." ,
In essence then,, what all
the guidelines mean is that
honesty alone, competence
alone, staff alone, strategic
viewpoint alone, historical
knowledge alone, long-time
support alone, accessibility
(CONTINUEDON PAGE II)
Service Planning Committee
The annual Yom Hashoa Service, a memorial
service for the six million Jews who died in the Nazi
Holocaust, will be held on Sunday, April 13, at 7:30
p.m., at Temple Israel.
A planning meeting was recently called by general
chairman Ernest Stern at Temple Israel, the host
congregation. Present were representatives of the
Synagogues participating in the event; Agudas Achim.
Beth Jacob, Beth Tikvah, and Tifereth. Israel. Not
present 'but participating are Beth Sholom and Beth'
Am. Representatives of all' the congregations will
participate in the program, and each congregation will
provide hostesses and ushers. (See related story p. 3.)
Pictured above is. the Planning Committee for the
Yom Hashoa Service. Bottom row, left to right, are:
Erika Blumenstein and Helga Eisen. Standing, left to
right, are: Henry ■ Saeman* Ernest Stern. Rabbi
Harvey S. Goldman, Rabbi Samuel Rubenstein, and
Rabbi David Stavsky. The photo is by the courtesy of
David Kopolovic, who is also a member of the coriv,
mittee.
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